HMAS Warramunga home after four months
12 October 2010 By Lieutenant Commander Robyn Sampson
HMAS Warramunga returned to Fleet Base West today, after spending more than four months deployed, including international Exercises RIMPAC 2010 in Hawaii, Exercise_Kakadu_2010 out of Darwin and port visits to Tonga, Hawaii, Darwin, the Republic of Korea and China.
HMAS Warramunga was at the forefront of a number of significant firsts during RIMPAC 2010. Warramunga participated in the first operational Harpoon Block II firing in the world and a 5” gunnery exercise using new type of ammunition. The Harpoon and gunnery engagements against the ex-USS New Orleans were particularly successful, contributing in no small part to the old amphibious helicopter carrier reaching her final resting place on the sea floor.
“The opportunity to use all of Warramunga’s primary weapons systems in a realistic tactical environment has added greatly to the knowledge and experience of the ship’s company, it also provided a rare but vital addition to the Navy’s knowledge base, and validated a great deal of current tactical thinking” said Commanding Officer HMAS Warramunga, [[Commander Bruce Legge]].
Warramunga’s involvement in KAKADU was also noteworthy as the ship performed the Commander Task Group role in charge of 11 ships including Singapore, Thailand and Japan units.
Another highlight for the ship’s company was the chance to conduct the first live fire exercise with regional neighbour China. During a week long exercise HMAS Warramunga used her 50 Calibre machine guns and 5 inch gun on a floating target while exercising with the People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N). Many of the crew were also able to visit culturally significant locations like the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square in Beijing.
The crew of HMAS Warramunga was enthusiastically welcomed by family and friends on the wharf at Fleet Base West.
“This has been a busy and extremely rewarding deployment for all of the crew and we have achieved a number of firsts for the Royal Australian Navy while we have been away from our loved ones,” said Commander Legge.
“My whole team is now looking forward to being home for a few weeks and sharing some quality time with families and friends,” said Commander Legge.
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